Home Again
by Anna Wolfe
Summary: The one thing they never questioned is what could end up breaking them both.


_Disclaimer: I own nothing from Supernatural. This was written for fun; no money was made.  
Please R and R.  
Hope everyone likes it. _

Dean was, without a doubt, completely bored out of his mind. He was currently stuck in a small, local library with no hot chicks to flirt with. In fact, the only other person in the small room besides the librarian was his geek of a little brother. Seeing as his preferred entertainment was unavailable, Dean settled on his second form of amusement – annoying Sam. Stretching his legs out underneath the table, the older Winchester put his foot on the bottom of Sam's chair and pushed, successfully nudging it back a few inches. The younger man paid no attention to his sibling, not even looking up from the book his nose was stuck in. 'Oh, the challenge has been thrown down.' Dean thought he had planned on just doing this once but now that no response had been given, he was going to annoy Sam until he got one; where was the fun if he didn't get any kind of reaction? Again, he reached out, and nudged his brother's chair. This time Sam looked up, glaring at him. He put on his innocent face; however, it was plain to see that Sam wasn't buying it.

"What is your problem?"

"Man, are we done yet?" Dean asked with a hint of a whine in his voice. The library certainly wasn't his favorite place in the world. "We've been here forever."

Sam just rolled his eyes at his big brother. "We've been here for fifteen minutes, Dean. Chill out." Without another word and completely ignoring the fact that Dean was mocking him, Sam once again buried his nose in the book before him.

The deaths of four people over a 30 year period had, at first, seemed like a simple job for the Winchester brothers. While surfing the net looking for another job, Sam had stumbled across an article depicting the latest tragedy of McKinney Manor; a ten year old boy had fallen to his death from the attic window. One of Sam's "shining" moments fell over him; it had given him the feeling that there was more to McKinney Manor than meets the eye. So he did what he does best – research. The first three deaths were listed as suicides with no evidence to prove otherwise.

The first death was that of the owner, Jack McKinney, in the late 1960's. After that the place was abandoned until ten years later when the second victim, Michael Sanders, wanted to buy the place. He was looking over the place one last time before committing himself to buying it when he too went out the attic window. Only two years had passed before Adam Wilson 'jumped' out the exact same window. The manor was once again abandoned until the two weeks ago when the boy's parents where looking at the house.

Once Sam told Dean all this, both had decided that this was something worth looking into. While traveling to the manor in Georgia, they bounced ideas off of each other as they always did about what was going on. Finally they came to the conclusion that it was Jack committing these murders for whatever reason. All that was needed was a simple salt and burn. However, when the brothers had arrived in the town, they couldn't find out where the man was buried; this was the reason they were in the library. Neither knew this one town had the potential to change their lives forever.

Neither of the brothers saw the woman who was watching them from the shadows. In fact she hadn't taken her eyes off the pair since they had arrived. There was something about the taller one that caught her attention. It was like her mind was trying to point something out to her, but she couldn't figure out exactly what. As Alex continued to watch the brothers, her mind drafted as it often did to her son, her Jimmy. Even after all this time, the pain in her heart was still as sharp as that day eighteen years ago. Back then life was perfect – she had two beautiful boys who filled her every moment with the greatest joy she had ever known. When she had held each of her sons for the first time, she vowed to protect them with her life, that no harm would ever come to them. To share the experience with a wonderful, beautiful man who wanted her above all others still amazed her to this day. However, it only took a one small moment to shatter her world.

The day had started like any other. Nick had woken up at his usual time to shower and dress for work while she made breakfast for her small family; all of them just content to be together as they ate. After the plates were clean, Nick kissed her soundly on the mouth, and then whispered in her ear, "You want to have another baby with me?"

Without even stopping to think, she whispered "Yes." Both of them knew they wanted a large family. When Nick had left, she turned to her reasons for living and asked them what they wanted to do today. Immediately, four year old Jimmy piped up.

"Can we go to the park? Please, Mommy, please," the little boy begged.

Two year old Scott then joined in with his brother, "Yeah. Plez Mommy."

"Oh, I don't know," she said teasingly, knowing full well that she had already caved to her sons' pleas. "Ok, we can go to the park." Happy cheers followed her words, a smile falling to her face that matched theirs.

It was a beautiful spring day, the kind that she had always loved as a child. If she had known what was to happen that day, she would have locked her family away, where nothing could get to them. However she didn't know and the three went off for a day of fun. The playground was small compared to the rest of the park, and was off to one side, near a wooded area. The park was crowded with many families who were also out enjoying the warm weather. As soon as she turned them loose, Jimmy immediately headed for the swings, which had always been his favorite, while little Scott toddled over to a sandbox a few feet from his mother.

Alex watched them for a while, smiling softly at her sons. Both of them of already looked so much like their father that, at times, it took her breath away. Now they were going to add a new member to the family. Life couldn't possibly be any better. She was distracted from her thoughts as another woman sat down next to her. They began to talk about the joys and hardships of being a mom while trying to keep one eye on their playing children. This is one of the things she would berate herself over in the years to come. What if she hadn't started talking to that woman?

Then little Scott came over to her crying, big tears rolling down his cheeks; he had hurt himself by falling on some rocks near the sandbox. She had looked up at Jimmy to make sure he was still on the swing set before turning her attention to her baby. Ever since they were born, it had always felt like someone was stabbing her with a knife whenever one of the boys were hurt; it just hurt so much that she was sure that it had really been her who had suffered the injury instead of them. She spent the next few minutes hugging the little boy close, kissing away the pain. She looked up once again to check on Jimmy, her eyes falling to the spot were he had been, only he wasn't there. For a moment she forgot how to breathe as she stood, her eyes scanning the remaining swings, hoping he had just moved to another one when she wasn't looking. Jimmy wasn't on any of the swings. Panic began to fill her as she quickly searched the rest of the small playground. He was no where to be found.

Suddenly, she couldn't breathe; her hands began to shake as tears filled her eyes that were continually darting around the area of the park, hoping with all her might to find even the smallest glimpse of her son's dark hair. She had to find him; she had sworn not to let anything happen to him. If she could just find him, she would never let him out of her sight again. Where was he? Her chest was tight as she began to frantically move towards the playground once again, praying that maybe a different view point would give her the glimpse into where he was hiding. No one had taken him; he was just hiding, not realizing the scare he was giving her. She squeezed the bundle in her arms tightly to her, not even realizing that it was her youngest son that she was squeezing.

The woman she had been talking to before put her hand on Alex's shoulder, pity filling her eyes as she talked. It took Alex a few moments to realize that the woman was talking and other few to put words to the sounds that were leaving the woman's mouth. She found herself nodding quickly she as recognized the words, restaurant and police and phone.

Only a few minutes later, a police officer arrived, asking her to calm down enough to tell him what her son looked like. For the life of her, she couldn't understand why he was acting so calm; her baby boy was missing. Didn't he realize that? She got the description out though, even through her words were shaking with tears; he was three feet tall at the most with brown hair and bluish green eyes, wearing a his favorite red shirt that his daddy had gotten him for his birthday, and these cute little jeans that he loved.

"Was anyone suspicious standing near your son?" the officer had asked her.

She tried to remember, honest to God, she tried. This was another thing she would blame herself for. She should have paid closer attention. By this time, Alex felt faint from the lack of oxygen, every part of her body felt detached from the rest. Her chest was heaving so badly that she couldn't talk. Office Fitzpatrick tried to make her sit down with her head between her legs, to help calm her down. However, she couldn't do that and hold on to her last remaining son. What if he disappeared too? No, she had to hold on to him.

Officer Fitzpatrick soon organized a search party to find the missing boy. At the time, she had felt like a complete failure as a mother, and wondered how to tell Nick that she had lost their child. The party searched for hours, with no sign of Jimmy. As night fell, the officer informed her that they couldn't possibly find him with the lack of light. Alex begged him through her tears not to stop, to find her precious son.

After a month, when the search was called off, she didn't get out of bed for a week, even refusing to eat. Eventually, she did get out of bed but she was still only half alive. She spent her every waking moment looking for her son. In hindsight, she realized that she had let nothing get in the way of finding her firstborn, not even the care of her other baby, Scott. The first year and a half after James' disappearance was the hardest. It nearly tore their family apart. Finally her husband, her beloved Nick, had made her see, firmly but lovingly, that she still had a son who needed her. Slowly, life became some what normal again. The biggest turning point was the first time they had laughed as a family again. It was here that she realized that, even though the pain would always be there and James would always be missed, the Winters would make it through this together.

Everyone told her that it was likely James was dead; she couldn't bring herself to believe that though. She wouldn't believe it; the hope that her son was alive somewhere was all she had to cling to. This belief got her through all of Jimmy's firsts that she had missed – his first day of school, his first crush, his first kiss – everything. If he was alive and if she could find him, then at least he could tell her about them. It wouldn't be the same as experiencing them first hand, but it was all she had. She just felt that somewhere out there, her boy was alive. Suddenly, it dawned on Alex what her mind was trying to telling her. Tears immediately came to her eyes as she looked again at the tall, young man before her. He was the splitting image of Nick.

The young man she had been staring at transformed before her eyes. Instead of a twenty something man, there was four old Jimmy right across the library where she could run over and scoop him into her arms once more. All of the same feelings from that day eighteen years ago came back to her. Once again, she couldn't breathe, her hands shook, and tears flowed down her face, but for a different reason. At long last, she has found her Jimmy.

Realizing the pair was gathering up their belongings to leave, she panicked. She had just found him; she couldn't lose him again. Without thinking, she rushed over to the duo. Even as she made her way over to them, she vaguely realized that this was probably not the best way to handle this; she had no proof that this was her son. However, in her panic over possibly losing him again, she ignores the voice in her head that tells her this is a bad idea.

"Jimmy!" she shouted, causing both of the young men to turn and look at her in confusion.

"Is she talking to us?" Dean asked. The protective skills which were instilled into him from the very beginning of Sam's life suddenly went into overdrive. The woman who was coming towards them had made no move to harm his little brother. However, John had taught his son to be prepared for anything so he could always protect his Sammy.

"I think so. She's coming this way." Sam replied. Unlike his brother, Sam felt sympathy, like he does when meeting a victim of the supernatural beings they hunt. The poor woman was simply confused, mistaking him for someone else. Once she realized her error, they could finish this job and maybe he could convince Dean to take a small vacation.

The woman in question was about 5'6"; her wavy brown hair hangs past her shoulders. She looked to be in her mid to late forties. As she came closer, the brothers could make out her face. The woman looked older than her years, like life had dealt her an enormous blow which had aged her prematurely, deep wrinkles set into a once pretty face. Yet, the huge blinding smile on her face did a great deal to soften her. Tears spilled down her cheeks as she continued to stare at Sam.

Alex stopped right in front of Sam, looking at him so lovely that Dean immediately tensed up even more. "Jimmy." She whispered, finding it hard to breathe as her unadulterated joy threatened to burst out of her. Only one thought ran through her head in a never-ending loop: _I've found him._

"Sorry, ma'am. I think you have me confused with someone else. My name is Sam and this is my brother, Dean." Sam replies, in a gentle way not wanting to cause her any more pain than he would already cause when pointing out her mistake. The woman was just confused; soon she'll see that she has the wrong person.

Barely pausing to look at Dean, she continued. "Oh, my son. We never gave up hope that you were alive. I can't believe we've found you again." She moved forward to embrace _James_.

Sam nervously took a step back, not wanting to hurt this woman but not wanting her to hug him either. Seeing Sam's reaction, Dean did what he had done his entire life – he placed himself between 'danger' and Sam. Nothing would ever hurt his brother while he was here. "Sam, go to the car and wait." Dean demanded, without taking his eyes off of Alex.

"But Dean…" Sam started, ready to convince his big brother that he wasn't a kid anymore. It only took one word from Dean to stop him in his tracks.

"Sammy."

So much was packed into his nickname. Part of it was the 'I know what's best for you so do as I say' tone he had heard all of his life. Some of it was pure fear; the fear that this woman could take Dean's family away. Yet, it's the barely there plea in his sibling's voice which makes him pause the most. The plea said, 'Please go. Let me protect you.' Dean doesn't plead with anyone, and after hearing it, Sam knows he couldn't deny his brother this. Without a word, only a gentle squeeze on the shoulder before him, Sam turned and walked out of the library to go wait in the Impala like Dean had instructed him to.

Looking over his shoulder to make sure Sam was safely out of the building, Dean turned his attention back to the woman in front of him. "I don't know what your deal is lady, but you stay away from my brother. He is not your son." With that said, Dean leaves the library. Alex continues to stand there with tears falling down her face. She has to call Nick and let him know the good news.

_There wasn't a lot of action or the brothers so far, this is mainly the set up for why Alex thinks like she does. _


End file.
